Update On Krtsats Kukuruz

If you recall I posted an entry about the now-destroyed krtsats kukuruz or corn cob building that was a veritable landmark in Yerevan until recently, when it was sold for a ridiculous amount and destroyed to make way for an expensive new hotel.

All that aside, it turns out the American Krtsats Kukuruz was used in at least one movie. This clip is from 1980's "The Hunter" with the legendary Steve McQueen.



Enjoy!

Alvin and the Armenian Chipmunks

Click to enlarge.

You must be thinking that I've lost my mind, right? Well, not quite! If you watched Alvin and the Chipmunks growing up, then maybe you realized one of the names in the closing credits as being distinctly Armenian: Ross Bagdasarian. Well, as it turns out, Ross was the cousin of William Saroyan and his stage name was David Seville! David Seville, if you recall, was the man who took care of the Chipmunks in the shows!

Well, all of this is great, but I really wrote this entry to announce that there will be a Chipmunks movie this Christmas produced by none other than Ross Bagdasarian, Junior, the son of the late Ross Bagdasarian.

Don't miss it!

Mer Bak, The Game

Just when I thought the Mer Bak trilogy couldn't get any worse, there comes this. Mind you, I liked the first one and the second one was okay, but that's about it!

In the first Level Hrant should help Dоdо to solve his flat problem where inhabitants of courtyard help him. In the second Level Hrant intends to marry with Ira, trying to win her heart. In the final Level are deciding internal problems which will be solved again by Hrant.

This is most likely the first movie, product placement, and video game tie-in that Armenia has ever seen.

Do you have $10 that you absolutely don't know what to do with? Spend it on a movie ticket and popcorn, because this game seems awful. I hear good things about Hot Fuzz.

Source: Mer Bake, The Game

Karabakh Film Screened in the Czech Republic

It sounds like it is similar in some ways to A Dark Forest in the Mountains.

A film titled "A Story of People in War and Peace" produced by Vardan Hovhannisian was screened at the festival of documentaries in Brno, Czech Republic. The film shot by an Armenian reporter tells about the fate of those who fought in the Karabakh war.

CT2 channel, Lidovskiye Noviny, Prague Post, Radio Cesko and other mass media cover the festival.

Armenian films need even more exposure! Too bad there isn't more information regarding a DVD release or even a theater premiere. Perhaps they should take lessons from the Priestess?

Source: PanArmenian

Turkey Filming Anti-Genocide "Documentary"

Ah, the Turks. We can always count on them to waste resources in the most ridiculous of ways. Just recently, a Turkish engineer declared that Armenians' push for Genocide Recognition was hurting business and demanded a ridiculous sum in court. And now, there's this:

With a purpose to "refuse statements" on the Armenian Genocide a documentary titled "A Big Lie" is being shot in Turkey on the basis of Russian and Armenian archives. The documentary will be afterwards translated into German, English, Russian and Arabian. It will consist of 6 parts, the first of which will be shown on April 24 via a state TV channel.

If anything, it will be an exercise in creativity and distortion of reality.

Source: PanArmenian

Review of "Dark Forest in the Mountains"

What is Dark Forest in the Mountains? It is the story of Nagorno-Karabakh: the struggle, the people, the costs, the realities of war. It takes you among the soldiers who braved everything to fight for our lands, among the villagers who lost families due to the war, and portrays the conflict as never before seen on film. I should say that the man who made the film is Roger Kupelian, but have you ever heard of him?

Roger is a visual effects artist who has worked on many of Hollywood's biggest films, including Lord of the Rings, Flags of Our Fathers, The Animatrix, The Truman Show, Batman & Robin, Jerry Maguire, and others. He traveled to the region in 1994 to document the war and spent the next six years putting it all together, with a welcome mix of actual footage and animations. The first version of the film was released in 2000, but the new Special Edition version has that and much more.

In addition to the main documentary, the Special Edition DVD includes the new "Hands and a Homeland," which is basically a mini-film ten years on. The people in the original film are interviewed again ten years later. It's interesting to see how their lives have changed, how their views have changed, and how so much has remained the same. Included in the new DVD is also a war journal and the personal photography of Roger Kupelian, which have not been seen until now.

However, my most favorite section of the DVD is the animated history of Armenia. If you've seen those slick Discovery Channel programs about World History and so on, that's how this is done, except as it pertains to Armenia. There are plenty of pictures, videos, animations, maps, you name it, all put together beautifully to illustrate our long history.

There isn't any other film like this one, and not only from the point of view of content, but the execution, as well. While there's plenty of footage from this terrible war, the glimpses into the lives of soldiers, families, doctors, and so on, is what sets this movie apart. You can't watch this film without at least a tear.

Don't take my word for it: the film won the AFFMA Jury Prize in 2002. You can find some pictures and ordering information from the link below.

Dark Forest in the Mountains

David of Sassoon, the Movie!

A group of Armenians are collecting money to produce an animated movie about none other than Sasundzi Davit! I must say, the concept art looks great and that they are tackling such a big project is all the more reason why you should head on over and see for yourself!

Here's the gallery: Hayasa Pictures - David of Sassoon Gallery

Why I Didn't See "The Priestess"

I was really looking forward to seeing Vigen Chaldranian's "The Priestess" - but I didn't. I was very excited about the notion of a Hollywood-style film, in terms of the picture quality, sound quality, and that polished look that Armenian films always miss, for better or worse.

Long story short, I didn't see it - and this is the main reason: "Premiere pricing" meant that I had to pay anywhere from $50-60 a ticket to see a couple of hours of film. What a joke!

Sure it's a premiere, sure it's a Chaldranian film, but does this mean getting raped financially for the pleasure of enjoying an Armenian film? At first, I planned on taking my family and my other half, but that would mean my spending $250. I don't think so. I was further dissuaded by the fact that when I called the special number to get the tickets - and this is before I knew of the steep price - a woman said the following in Armenian: "Yes?"

Did I get the wrong number? Were the phone lines crossed? Surely this couldn't have been Grauman's Chinese Theater! I don't know where I called - most likely some suite in a building somewhere in Glendale - but I was confused. I said, "Hello?" and she replied, "Ayo?" (Ayo is "Yes" in Armenian.) A few seconds after that exchange, it seemed clear that the only people taking orders were Armenian and they didn't speak English.

Why does this bug me? It bugs me because I want Armenian movies to succeed! I don't care what the theme is: don't limit the movie to Armenians! Get operators who can actually speak the language in which it is premiering! For crying out loud, are you trying every last possible option to make sure that this film does not succeed with the rest of the world?

Regardless, if you have a review, submit it and I will publish it if it is good.

Armenian Movie "The Priestess" Opens January 25th

One of the producers of "The Priestess" informed me of the premiere details:

Place: Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Date: Thursday, January 25th, 2007
Time: 7:00PM
Call: 818-265-0506

A lot more information is available on the official "The Priestess" website. The web site has a trailer, photo gallery, and more.

Go out there and see it!

New Armenian Movie: Priestess

There's a new Armenia-themed movie on the horizon, so keep your eyes open!

"Priestess,' the latest film shot by one of the leading Armenian film directors, Vigen Chaldranian, will be premiered on January 25 in Chinese Theater cinema house in Glendale, California, USA. The film will be screened also by cinema houses in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

...Chaldranian said the main idea behind this film was to present Armenia as the first nation to convert to Christianity and adopt it as their national faith. The film was first shown in Yerevan last October. Chaldranian said the main source of information for the film was the 'History of Armenia' by a 5-century Armenian historian Agatangeghos.

Chaldranian said 600 costumes were made specially for this film, which is the first large-scale Armenian film in the last decades.

I'm sure this movie will be great, but ALL Armenian movies shown in the U.S. do poorly. Why? Because they lack distribution. It costs money, sure, but it also guarantees that more than 25 people see such an epic work. Screamers was only on a handful of screens and by the time I went to see it, they had already taken it off.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Armenians for doing such terrific movies, but they will discourage others from doing similar movies because the financial incentives are not there. And whether you like it or not, those incentives largely drive studios and distributors to make even more movies of the sort. A bit of a Catch-22, I suppose.

Source: ArmenPress

Turkish Groups Try Stopping Stallone's Genocide Movie

And yet again, a story from the past comes alive.

Turkish organizations are going to send protest letters to American movie actor Sylvester Stallone who intends to screen Franz Werfel’s ‘The 40 Days of Musa Dagh’.

Savaş Eğilmez, the chairman of the so-called ‘Association on struggle against Armenian Genocide acknowledgement’ stated that [Franz Werfel's novel] is full of lie since the author wrote it after talking to the Armenians with nationalistic and radical views.”

In his words, “It is necessary to take appropriate measures till the start of shoots, since after everything has already began it will be more difficult. “We have already sent appropriate documents about the events of those days to the producers of the film. Our compatriots will assist us to urge the producers not to shoot the film,” he underlined

If you look at the original blog entry linked above, Stallone understands that Turkey has been trying to keep the genocide as a whole under wraps for 85 years, so I doubt he will be derailed by these futile efforts.

It must be really hard to be a Turk these days, what with all of these Armenians making ridiculously laughable claims about genocides and all. It's a good thing such an organization as the "Struggle against Armenian Genocide acknowledgement" exists.

Here's an idea, why don't you email the leader of this triumphant organization and tell him how you feel about this issue? Here's his email address: Savaş Eğilmez

Source: PanArmenian

Sylvester Stallone Considers Genocide Film

I've been hearing rumors about this for a couple of days, so I've decided to publish it.

For years, Stallone has wanted to create an epic, and the book that intrigues him is Franz Werfel's "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh," detailing the Turkish genocide of its Armenian community in 1915.

French ships eventually rescued some Armenians, and Stallone has his favorite scene memorized: "The French ships come, and they've dropped the ladders and everybody has climbed up the side. The ships sail. The hero, the one who set up the rescue, has fallen asleep, exhausted, behind a rock on the slope above. The camera pulls back, and the ships and the sea are on one side, and there's one lonely figure at the top of the mountain, and the Turks are coming up the mountain by the thousands on the far side."

The movie would be "an epic about the complete destruction of a civilization," Stallone said. Then he laughed at the ambition. "Talk about a political hot potato. The Turks have been killing that subject for 85 years."

Not only would that make a great film when properly produced, keeping in mind a low-profile version was made in 1982, but it would project the greater issue onto the masses. Here's to Stallone!

Screamers

I want to make sure that everyone sees the movie Screamers. The Los Angeles band System of a Down will contribute their music and much more to this film.

Catch the trailer.

Sadly, it is only playing in a handful of theaters. Here is the list:

Mann Chinese 6
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-464-8111

Mann Exchange 10
128 North Maryland Avenue Glendale,
CA 91206
818-549-0045

AMC The Block 30
20 City Blvd West Ste. E
Orange, CA 92868
Guest Services: 714-769-4288

And it will open on January 19th, 2007, at these theatres:

Regal Manchester Stadium 16
2055 E. Shields Ave.,
Fresno, CA 93726

Edwards Fresno Stadium 21 & IMAX
250 Paseo del Centro
559-447-3247

So go out there and see it.